Wild Rose Blossoms
by Salve-SiS
Summary: AU. It's the summer before college. Sora knows what he wants, Kairi knows what she doesn't want, and their friends do their best to help them out. And if they fall in love in the process, well, that's another thing they'll help out with. SoKai.
1. To Be Free

_Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. I am merely a fangirl eagerly awaiting Kingdom Hearts III and Terra's return. Terra...!_

_Thanks to Xelaric the Nobody, who looked through this chapter for me! Go check out her stories, they're great! _

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><p><strong>Wild Rose Blossoms <strong>

** by Salve-SiS**

_**-Dedicated to my younger sister, FaithfulWater-**_

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><p><strong>Chapter One: <strong>

**To Be Free  
><strong>

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><p>"Kairi Hartlin!"<p>

Clad in a blue cap and gown, Kairi headed for the stage, smiling as she shook the principal's hand and was handed her high school diploma. Holding the diploma in both hands she faced the crowd in front of her, eyes searching for one particular person. She had to squint a bit due to the bright rays of the sun, but it didn't take long to find her, and she rushed off the stage into her waiting arms. She reveled in her squishy, soft embrace.

"I missed you, Grandma!"

Her grandmother chuckled and ran a tender hand through Kairi's hair. In the background, several other families went about their own celebrations. "I've missed _you_, dear." She placed her hands on Kairi's shoulders, put some distance between them, and studied her intently. Her grandmother had dressed up for the occasion, her hair pulled up into a bun and her neckline adorned with a diamond pendant, shaped and colored like a teardrop. Pleased with what she saw, she nodded.

"You've grown so lovely," she said. "And now, off to Splendore's School For Musicians..." Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. "Your mother would be so proud."

Kairi felt her stomach lurch at the mention of Splendore, but it was overshadowed by the millions of warm happy tingles multiplying throughout her body. Her own eyes began to water. "Grandma..."

"KAIRI!"

Two girls appeared, having weaved through the crowd to reach Kairi: her close friends Anna Frederiksen and Selphie Tilmitt. Selphie, who had already discarded her graduation robes, wore a green and white tank dress with dark brown boots. Her hair had been brushed down so that it curled around and framed her face. "Hey Kairi, you ready to hit the town?!"

Anna had yet to take off her gown. She tried to take it off as she ran, and tripped and fell face first to the ground with a loud shout. Random people gasped and turned to look at the source of commotion, but none of them made any attempt to help. In fact, Kairi thought she saw someone take a picture.

She hurried over to her. "Anna! Are you alright?"

Anna grunted. "I'm okay, I'm okay! But, uh, a little help, please?" She spit some grass out of her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, Kairi saw another flash of light.

Selphie rolled her eyes as she helped Anna up. "You're so lucky you didn't get grass stains on your dress-or did you?"

She started pulling Anna's gown off. "Whoa!" Anna exclaimed. While Selphie examined her outfit, she shook her head in an attempt to regain some composure and smoothed out the crinkles of her magenta halter dress before looking up at her friends and smiling brightly, if a little embarrassed. "Well, that's one way to start things off! Come on, you guys, let's go!"

"Ah, the energy of youth," Kairi's grandmother commented from the sidelines, observing her granddaughter and her friends with an amused expression on her face.

Kairi hesitated. "Oh, Grandma...did you have anything planned for tonight? Because-"

Holding a hand up, her grandmother answered, "Oh, don't worry about me, dear. Go and have fun with your friends. We'll talk later." She winked.

Kairi grinned. "Thanks, Grandma." Pecking her grandmother on the cheek, she gave one final wave before heading off with Anna and Selphie.

"Can you believe it?!" Selphie squealed as she got into the driver's seat of her glistening car. "We're high school graduates! Legal adults! We can go and do _whatever we want!"_

"We can join the army!" Anna said, and then added, "Not that we're _going_ to join the army, at least I'm not, but no one can stop us if we ever change our minds!"

"It feels so unreal." Kairi gazed out at her now former high school, Radiant Garden's Prep School For Girls. The large campus shrunk as the girls zoomed farther and farther away, until finally it faded from sight. The redhead felt something click somewhere in her mind, a part of her cementing into itself. "Who knew the time would pass so quickly...?"

"Not that quick," Anna said. "Remember history sophomore year? Meanie Miss Farron must have given us, like, twenty detentions."

Selphie glanced sideways at the freckled redhead. "What do you mean by _'us'_? _You're_ the one who wouldn't pay attention in class, and you would have gotten even more detentions if we hadn't been there to bail you out."

"I don't think lobbing paper balls at Anna's head helped out much," Kairi commented. "And the time you hit her right in the face right when Miss Farron turned to look at you guys definitely wasn't helpful. Didn't you both get detention that time?"

"You bruised my cheek, too..." Anna grumbled, rubbing aforementioned cheek. "And it's not my fault her lessons were so boring! She could have tried to spice them up at least a teeny bit."

Selphie harrumphed. "Well, whatever. All that's behind us now! Goodbye RGP, hello Splendore's! Wait until the world gets a hold of us, Kai. We're gonna knock 'em dead!" Selphie was set to study Acoustics at the prestigious Splendore's School for Musicians there in Radiant Garden. Internationally known for its Vocals program, Kairi also planned to attend—she'd been taking various vocal lessons from skilled instructors her grandmother hired with her considerable wealth since she was twelve. That same wealth allowed Kairi to attend RGP and soon Splendore with little obstacle, save for the latter's mandatory try outs. Which she had passed.

Kairi played around with her fingers. "Yeah. Knock them dead. Can't wait."

Her fingers found their way to the top of her head, where her cap was still clipped on. She sighed quietly to herself, removed the clips, and held the cap gingerly in her hands. Moving it around a bit like a seesaw, she was hit with a blast of boldness. Inching to the edge of the car, she opened the backseat window and tossed her cap into the air. She watched it teeter down to the road, keeping her eyes on it until it faded from sight.

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><p>The bell placed on the top of the door jangled as he entered the restaurant. He sighed in relief as the cool air enveloped him and made his way to the counter, where his notepad and apron awaited him. He tied the apron around his chest, picked up the notepad and pen, and tapped the counter bell thrice to let the others know he had arrived.<p>

He was greeted by the interim manager, who frowned immediately upon seeing him. "Sora? What are you doing here?"

Sora smiled. "Hey, Tiana. Just thought I'd stop by and get some extra shifts in."

Tiana's frown grew deeper. "I thought you had that graduation barbecue at the beach tonight. Your friends were talking about it the last time they were here."

"Oh. _That_. Yeah, I told the others to go on without me."

Tiana blinked. "But you were so excited to go. What happened?"

Sora, who had been fidgeting the entire time Tiana had been talking, let out a delighted laugh. "You won't believe this." Beaming, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crinkled piece of paper. He practically shoved it into Tiana's hands and waited excitedly as she read the letter's contents.

"Oh, Sora, that's great!" Tiana lifted her gaze up to smile at the teen. "Congratulations!"

"Ha ha, thanks!"

"Congratulations on what?" The two were joined by the restaurant's resident baker, a blue haired woman named Aqua. A top notch baker when it came to sweets, people from all over town came to get a taste of her creations. Like Tiana, she frowned when she saw Sora. "Sora? Why aren't you at the barbecue with Ven and the others?"

"Aqua, look!" Tiana handed Aqua the letter. Bemused, Aqua held the letter up close and read diligently.

_Dear Mr. Cleford,_

_Congratulations! We are pleased to welcome you to the University of Zoology and to inform you of your admission for the Fall 2015 Quarter! You have already proven your academic ability and potential for success at the university._

_The University of Zoology is a school filled with excitement and enrichment, known for our study abroad programs. We offer you the chance to study multitudes of animals up close in their natural habitats, something not available in other zoology schools. Your admission is provisional until you meet the requirements checked in the enclosed Provisional Admission Checklist. Please read the checklist carefully and follow all the instructions. Note that if not all provisions are met, your offer of admission may be withdrawn by the following date..._

Aqua skipped over the rest. She peered up at Sora and beamed. "I knew you'd get in! Why aren't you out with the others celebrating?"

Sora's grin became sheepish. "You know how this is my dream school, right? Well, dream schools are called 'dreams' for a reason..."

Understanding dawned on Aqua's face. "How much?" He told her. "What? Will you be able to make that much by then?"

Sora ran a hand through the spikes of his hair. "I'm gonna have to work my butt off for the next couple of months, but I'm sure I can do it!"

Tiana gave Sora an approving look. "That's the spirit, Sora."

"Still, though, are you sure you don't want to start tomorrow?" Aqua asked. "It's the first day of vacation. You're young. You should be out with your friends."

Tiana said, "If he's gonna go to this school, he's gonna have to get serious. No slacking off now, you hear?"

"Yes, sir, ma'am," said Sora, salute and all. The two older women laughed.

As the first customers of the day arrived, Aqua and Tiana retreated into the kitchen while Sora took their orders. The Lucky Cat Cafe was a medium-sized restaurant/bakery with a slight Japanese theme, a nod to the owner's own Japanese heritage. On display were several types of cookies, cakes, donuts, and other pastries you'd expect to see in a bakery. The menu displayed on the top half of the wall behind the counter listed types of meals you'd expect from a diner, as well as a variety of coffee and teas from which to choose from. There was a staff total of seven people: The owner and primary chef Cass Hamada, secondary cook (currently primary, since Ms. Hamada was away on a business trip) Tiana Wilson, baker Aqua Vesital, waiters Max Goof, Tifa Lockhart, the owner's nephew Tadashi (only during college breaks), and Sora.

He'd been a waiter at Lucky Cat's since he was fourteen years old. Since that time it'd become a sort of second home to him, with Tiana and Aqua as the the older sisters and Cass the kooky but lovable aunt. Not just to her actual nephews, but to all of her employees. His fellow waiters were good friends too, even if he wasn't quite as close to them as he was to his other group of friends. In fact, it was through one of those friends that he had these friends now.

He met Ven and his twin brother Roxas back in fifth grade. Ven was the one who got Sora his job; Aqua had told him about the cafe's need for waiters, information he passed on to Sora. The rest was history.

The guys weren't coming in today. A group of seniors managed to organize a graduation party over at the beach. The three boys made plans to attend, but then Sora got his acceptance letter. Along with joy came the realization if he wanted to go to the University of Zoology, it was time to stop lazing about and get productive (which was easier said than done, Sora noted after Tiana shook him awake from a nap for the third time _that morning_). He told them to go on without him. Sure, it stung a little thinking about the barbecue and the ocean and all the fun the guys must be having, but it wasn't a big deal. He'd see them tomorrow, and they'd tell him all about what he missed.

That's what he thought anyway.

"Hey, Sora!" Ven barged into the restaurant early afternoon. Roxas followed suit, numerous grease-soaked bags dangling from his arms. He raised his voice and shouted, "Hey, Aqua! Hey, Tiana!"

"Hey, _brother_! Mind helping me out with these?" Roxas shook the bags with an annoyed expression on his face.

Ven glanced at his brother for half a second before turning back to a gobsmacked Sora. "Nah, you can handle it."

"Wh-What are you guys doing here?!" Sora asked while Roxas grumbled to himself and set the down bags on an empty table. "The barbecue can't be over yet-"

"Oh, it's not." Ven said. "Last I saw, they were setting up a struggle tournament. But we weren't gonna spend the first day of our last summer together without you, Sora."

"So we waited until lunch and grabbed whatever we could get our hands on. Chips, steaks, hot dogs, stuff like that." Roxas stretched his arms. "We wanted to get some fireworks too, but Axel threatened to tear our heads off if we even thought about it."

"Which I did. Several times." added Ven cheerfully.

"We know you have work right now, so we figure we'll just hang around 'til you're done. Then we can reheat everything and feast like kings!" Roxas grinned.

Sora blinked. "You guys..." Both touched and astonished, he cocked his head to the right and coughed. "Thanks."

Ven smiled. "What else did you expect?"

Roxas flickered his gaze between the two of them and groaned. "Why are you guys such _saps_?"

"Why are _you_ such a killjoy?" whined Ven while Sora laughed, embarrassed.

The twins sat themselves at one of the tables near the window wall. Sora stopped by in between taking orders, the second time to remind them they were in a restaurant and if they wanted to stay then they had to order something. Ven and Roxas complained they were still full from lunch, to which Sora told them to suck it up and eat like men, darn it. This was accompanied by a warning look from Tiana, who poked her head out from the kitchen to glare at them threateningly.

They ordered hash browns with a side of mercy.

"So when's Riku coming back?" Roxas asked.

"Next week," Sora answered. "I can't wait—I haven't seen him in, like, a year!" Riku was a year older than Sora, Roxas, and Ven, and thus he'd started college a year earlier. Best friends with Riku since babyhood, Sora found life in Twilight Town wasn't the same without him. For one thing, there wasn't anyone around to reel Roxas and Ven from taking a prank too far. Result: lots of chaos.

"Doesn't he write to you?" Ven asked.

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "And don't you guys Skype?"

"Yeah, but that's not the same thing as actually having him here in person. Plus Mickey misses him."

Roxas made a small noise. "You guys must be pretty excited," he said. "Pretty soon you'll be going to the same college together. You've dreamed about that for years."

Sora grinned. "This summer is gonna rock. I'm going to UZ, Riku's coming back; this'll be the best summer vacation ever!" He pumped his fist. Ven copied him, grinning widely.

Roxas rolled his eyes and popped a hash brown into his mouth.

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><p>It was loud and smelled like booze everywhere. Kairi could barely make out the dark figures grinding against each other, which she was grateful for when Selphie, after dipping a bit too much into the punch bowl, planted a big, sloppy kiss on some random boy's face.<p>

Anna and Kairi watched Selphie drag the boy to the dance floor. "She's gonna regret this tomorrow," Kairi remarked. Her hair was swept back and she wore a pink baby doll dress. Her lips glinted with lip gloss and her eyelids were dashed with light pink eyeshadow.

"She's gonna wake up with a massive headache. Who knows how long she'll be hurling it up in the bathroom too," Anna said. "You know, it's really a problem for us right now 'cause she's the only one of us who knows how to drive."

"We'll call a cab. No way are we letting her behind the wheels when she's like this."

"She's really excited for Splendore's," Anna observed. "Well, you both are, but she's a lot more obvious about it."

Grimacing for a brief second, Kairi quickly replaced it with a smile. "What about you? You come up with a plan yet?" Anna had surprised Kairi and Selphie when she announced she wasn't enrolling in University. "_Business isn't for me,"_ Anna had said. When they asked her what she planned to do instead, she answered: _"No idea! But I can't wait to find out!"_

The Anna of the present beamed. "Actually YES, I DO have a plan. And it is amazing. You won't believe it, I don't believe it, and I was there-"

"Anna," Kairi interrupted, a small smile on her lips. "The plan?"

"I'm joining a troupe!"

Kairi blinked. "You're...you're _what_?"

"I know, right?!" Anna gushed. "I was at the park the other day when I saw the most amazing performance. They were acting out all these wonderful stories, stories my sister used to read to me when we were little. And—And when they finished I went over to them to tell them how fantastic they were, next thing I know we're eating lunch together and they're inviting me to join!"

"...That's...you...you act?"

"Well, I mean, not technically, but Bulda said she'd give me a couple of tips to help get me started. And, you know, my mom still doesn't know I'm not studying business. If I can keep a secret for that long, then I must have some talent as an actress, right?"

Kairi didn't bother to ask who Bulda was. "...Right...Wait, you mean your family still doesn't know you're not going to college?"

Anna smiled nervously. "My sister knows. I didn't want to tell my mom until I figured something out. Now that I have I'll tell her tomorrow."

"I take it she won't be happy about it."

"She'll come around," Anna said breezily, though there was a hint of shakiness in her voice. "She has to. It's my life. She doesn't decide what I do with it."

"You really think this is a good idea?" asked Kairi. "Street performers don't make a ton of money. Where will you live? What'll you eat?"

"The troupe lives in a trailer. We go wherever the wind takes us!"

"But Anna...are you sure you've thought this through?" She'd known Anna for four years ever since she started RPG, and it was apparent from their first meeting Anna had the tendency to spring into action without taking into account the possible dangers. Like the time she spent Spring Break alone with her boyfriend of two weeks. To this day, Kairi was still thankful nothing had happened to her friend.

Anna pouted. "Yes, I have! I thought long and hard about this. I thought about how my mom's been shoving business and finances and other boring company stuff down my throat since I was seven and how my sister's completely given into her _and_ how her whole life is basically our family's company. I thought about it, and I refuse to let it become my life, too."

"So yes, I'm sure," Anna crossed her arms, and then uncrossed them again.

Kairi gazed at her friend speechlessly. Several moments passed until finally she said, "I'm happy for you. I hope you have fun out there."

"Thanks. And I just know you'll do great at Splendore's," Anna hugged Kairi. Kairi returned the hug, but she couldn't help but frown once more, and was grateful Anna couldn't see.

Kairi separated herself from Anna and told her she needed some fresh air. She went to the house's backyard, which was spotted with trees and completely empty save for a few still sober folk. She glanced at each of them and wondered just what did their futures have in store for them? How many of them were heading off towards the lives they wanted like Anna, and how many were forced to concur with what others wanted of them, expected of them?

How many were like her?

Sighing, she pulled out her cellphone and dialed her grandmother's number. _"Hello, my little songbird,"_ Her grandmother greeted her affectionately. There was a small undertone of confusion. _"Might I ask why you're calling your old grandmother when you should be partying with your friends?"_

"Partying's never really been my thing, Gran." Kairi let out a small laugh. "I really missed you, you know."

_"I missed you too, songbird. The house isn't the same without you. Though I suppose I'll have to get used to it."_

"Not for another two months you won't. Remember, I'm coming back home for the summer?"

_"Yes, I can't wait. Two whole months with my baby girl in Twilight Town. Your last summer home..."_ her grandmother trailed off, sounding wistful and slightly tearful.

Kairi smiled. "We better make sure it's one heck of a summer, right?"

Her grandmother laughed. _"That's the spirit, dear!"_

They talked for a couple of minutes until saying goodbye. Clutching her cell phone in her hand, Kairi smiled to herself in relief. Talking to her grandmother always cheered her up. She felt lighter, more confident, the future no longer a heavy load but a tolerable, even welcome change. All she had to do was hold on to this feeling and she'd be okay. She had to be.

But just like all other times previous to now, the feeling abandoned her, leaving her with nothing but dread once again.

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><p><em>The format for Sora's acceptance letter was taken and paraphrased from an actual acceptance letter I found online. <em>

_Has anyone else noticed most AU Kingdom Hearts fics feature mainly Final Fantasy characters? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but__ Disney _is _a part of the series too. Don't they deserve some time in the spotlight? Like in the fic _Benefriends _by .uta. Mainly FF and KH original characters, but Cogsworth and other Disney characters make appearances as well. Very good read for RokuNami fans, check it out! _

_Do you know this is the longest I've ever written for a chapter? Seven and a half pages. Hopefully they'll get longer later on. :) Reviews make me feel nice, and they help motivate me! So if it's not too much trouble, could you leave some? Constructive criticism is welcome! Asked for, even! _


	2. Munny Makes the World Go Round

_Thanks to Xelaric, who looked through this chapter for me._

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><p><strong>Chapter Two <strong>

**Munny Makes the World Go Round**

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><p>Sora remembered back when college was a certainty. His parents had never been the richest of folks, but they were responsible with the money they had and stored parts of their earnings into Sora's college fund. His parents were both teachers, which meant being a bum was not an option, despite his naturally lazy disposition. His mother hoped he'd take a liking to books the way she and his father had, but while Sora always liked <em>listening <em>to stories, he wasn't good at readingthem. He preferred to live them out, have sword fights and explore the town alongside Riku.

He especially enjoyed exploring. From the minute he could walk, he poked his head around every unchecked corner, peeked into every nook and crack he could find. He loved the rush of finding something new and mysterious. Riku was by his side for all of his expeditions (In fact, Riku was the one who led them. Sora would never admit that, of course, but considering Riku used to lug him around back before he could walk, it was kind of a no-given), and the two promised each other they'd travel the world together. Europe, South America, the Savannas, they wanted to see it all.

Right now, Riku was the only one living their dream. Sora sighed as he collapsed into an empty seat next to Roxas and Ven, who were eating English muffins coated with butter. Right now, they were the only ones in the restaurant aside from a handful of customers and the other waiters.

"Why can't Mom or Dad cook this good?" Ven moaned as he bit into his meal.

"You think Tiana would move in with us if we asked?" asked Roxas. "We don't have a lot of munny..."

"...but we can pay her with compliments!"

"I don't think compliments will help her buy her own restaurant, but I'll ask." Sora eyed their plate hungrily. Noticing this, Roxas slid the plate over to him and he swiped a muffin, moaning with delight. "Yup, definitely asking her later."

Taking a spoonful of jelly, Roxas slabbed it over muffin and asked, "You really think you can raise enough money to go to UZ just by working here? It's a great place, but it's no Ratatouille's." Ratatouille's was another restaurant located in Market Street, known for their ratatouille dish. Lucky Cat was way better if you asked Sora, but for some reason they weren't as popular. There were times when Sora wasn't needed to wait tables, or clean the bathrooms, _or_ entertain the kids.

Still, he smiled. "People in this town always need help with something. I can do other stuff when I'm not here."

"You're not gonna be working the whole summer, are you?" Ven pouted. "Like, you'll have time to spend with your best friends right?"

"Course!" Sora laughed. "Maybe not as much time, but you guys are important too, and it_ is_ the last time we're gonna be able to hang out for awhile."

"Which is also your fault," Roxas said. "You're the one who's leaving."

"Oh, come on, Roxas!" Sora knew Roxas was only joking, but he couldn't help but defend himself. "Twilight Town's great and all, but I can't stay cooped up here my whole life! I wanna meet a lion and swim with dolphins and...eat empanadas."

"Couldn't you ask Tiana to make you an empanada?"

Sora faltered. "Well, yeah...but the other two things still count!" He regained his composure, puffing up his chest.

"What's happening here?" Aqua walked over to the boys with an amused expression on her face. "You been going to the gym, Sora?"

"He's just full of hot air," Ven said while Sora deflated. "Everything okay back there, Aqua?"

Aqua waved his question aside with: "Don't worry, Ven. People aren't exactly rushing for sweets in the morning." Sitting down next to Ven, she propped her arms on the wooden table. "I wish they were, though. It'd help keep me busy."

Ven grinned. "Aw, you got us for that!"

"And _Terra," _Roxas said, smirking suggestively and laughing when Aqua threw him a dirty look.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked stiffly.

Putting his hands on the back of his head, he shrugged. "What do you think it means?"

She frowned. "Roxas, for the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Terra."

"I never said there was."

"There isn't!"

"Oh, really?" Roxas' smirk widened. "What about when he was dating Ella?"

She stiffened. "What _about_ Ella?" asked Aqua sharply, narrowing her eyes.

Roxas gaped at her, then smiled triumphantly and pointed at her. "See right there? One mention of her and you're suddenly an uber-bitch to rival_ Larxene."_

"Oh, that's not true," Sora interjected.

"Thank you, Sora-"

"-no matter how in love with Terra she is, she's nowhere as bad as Larxene." Sora made a face as he mentioned their friend Axel's on-again, off-again girlfriend.

Aqua scowled.

Roxas turned to his brother. "Ven?"

Ven eye Aqua warily before giving a shrug. "Sorry, Aqua. But hey!" He quailed under Aqua's glare. "Sora's right, you're nowhere as bad as Larxene, and you're better at hiding how you feel than Naveen is!"

Sora blinked. "Hey, that's right. isn't it weird Naveen hasn't shown up yet?"

The others groaned, and the topic of Aqua and Terra was forgotten in favor for this:

"Oh, _now _he's done it." Roxas muttered, chucking his half-eaten muffin down. Next to him, Ven hung his head.

"_Sora." _Aqua half-sighed, half-groaned his name.

"What?" Sora looked around the table at his friends' disgruntled faces. _"What?" _

And as if Sora had summoned him, the door burst open and in came Twilight Town's resident playboy. His hair slicked back, surrounded by an air of cologne, he held a bouquet of roses in his hands, smiling seductively. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is I, Naveen Mancini," he winked at the waitress. She rolled her eyes, but giggled nonetheless. "And I have come to see your resident _bell__ezza__. _Tell her...her prince has arrived._" _

Ven shook his head. "Here we go."

"At least we're getting a show," Sora said cheerfully, to which Roxas groaned. Aqua sighed tiredly and called out for Tiana.

Tiana emerged from the kitchen, hair unkempt and apron rumpled. Upon seeing Naveen, she took on an unimpressed face, as if to say, _'Really? This again?' _

As Tiana approached him, Ven pulled out his phone. "What are you doing?" Roxas whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Recording this," Ven snickered. "Terra's gonna love it!"

"Ven, don't do that," Aqua muttered. She couldn't help but smile, however. "That's an invasion of privacy."

Sora frowned. "If this is so private, why doesn't Naveen go see Tiana in the kitchen instead of calling her out to the front?"

"Because that'd be the considerate thing to do," Roxas deadpanned.

"So what, he _likes_ having an audience?"

"Pretty much," Aqua answered.

"Shh, you guys!" Ven waved his free hand up and down in their direction to shut them up.

"...imported from France," Naveen was saying. In front of him, Tiana listened with crossed arms and raised eyebrows. "They grew up soaking in the country's aroma of love."

"Really?" Tiana uncrossed her arms so she could put a hand on her hip. "How much did you spend on those?"

"Well, I did not want to say, but since you asked," Naveen sounded pleased, obviously taking Tiana's interest as a good sign. "A little over...two hundred, three hundred dollars?"

Tiana's eyes widened a little, but she shook her head and barreled on. "Right. And where did you get that money?"

"Eh, you know," Naveen shrugged lightheartedly.

Aqua put a hand on her forehead.

"Yes, I do know." Tiana smiled warmly. "I know you didn't work a lick for a single cent of it. I know you dipped into your parents' money, took out three hundred dollars, and spent it on _flowers. _I know you have never lifted a finger to do a single thing besides to stick it up someone's..."

Aqua cleared her throat loudly. Catching Tiana's attention, she gestured to Ven and Sora pointedly. The two boys blinked innocently.

Wincing, Tiana turned back to Naveen and pressed on. "Anyway. I, on the other hand, have to work for a living, so if you'll excuse me," Tiana whirled around and retreated back into the kitchen, leaving Naveen standing alone, dumbfounded and speechless.

The chef stopped in her tracks. "Oh, and you may want to put those roses in a vase. This heat can't be good for them."

"Cold," Roxas remarked after she left the vicinity. Ven put his cell phone back in his pocket, chuckling to himself. "How many times was that now?"

"Five," Aqua said. "He's not letting up, is he?"

"That's a lot of effort for someone he just wants to bang." Roxas picked up the muffin he had thrown down earlier and took a bite.

"Nah, he totally likes her," Sora argued. "You don't spend three hundred dollars just to, you know..."

Ven nodded. "Plus there are plenty of other girls willing to sleep with him. The fact he's working so hard for Tiana means something."

"It means he likes the challenge, Ven, not her." Closing her eyes, Aqua breathed out deeply. "I wish he wouldn't do this here. Tiana's going to be impossible to work with now."

Roxas' smirk returned. "You know how you can cheer her up? Take her out for drinks and tell her all about you and Terra. I bet you guys will really bond-"

Aqua stood up. "I'm going back to work. Sora, make sure the boys behave themselves."

She left before Sora could reply. "Okay," he called out lamely after her.

Ven swatted his brother lightly on the arm. "Nice going, Roxas."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Well, someone has to push her. It's not like Terra's gonna make the first move."

Ven opened his mouth to reply, only to snap it shut and sigh deeply. "True."

"Why don't _we _just tell Terra how she feels about him?" Sora asked them. "Then all this-whatever this is-" he made random, wild gestures with his hands flying about all over the place. "-between them can stop."

"Because she'd kill us if we did," Roxas said. "Except for Ven. And you."

"So, just _you _then?" Sora blinked, then a smile slowly appeared on his face and he shrugged. "Ah, worth it."

Roxas threw a napkin at him.

As the day passed, business fluctuated, hitting high points with all the waiters maneuvering around the tables and each other while the chefs cooked away, and low points early evening, where it was perfectly okay for one of them to be whisked upstairs to the Hamadas' apartment and used as a lab rat. Cass, the owner of Lucky Cat's, was away on business. Her older nephew Tadashi was out right now too, which left an empty flat for her younger nephew to use for observation and an employee to use for tests.

"Hiro, how safe is this?"

Hiro looked up from his clipboard. He grinned lazily and waved off Sora's concerns, "Don't worry, Sora, you're totally safe."

"Just how safe is safe, exactly?" Eyebrows furrowed, Sora peered down to gaze at the invention Hiro had buckled onto his feet. They were a pair of rollerblades with some sort of machinery glued to the sides and back. He wore elbow and knee pads and a large red helmet that squished his brown spikes down over his face. _Thank God the guys aren't here_, Sora thought. _Especially Riku. _He'd tease him for a month if he saw him like this.

Hiro put a hand on the back of his neck, hesitating. "...Well, you won't die or anything."

Sora groaned. "Oh, _man." _

"Hey," the younger boy pulled a small pouch out of his hoodie pocket and shook it around. Jangles could be heard from inside. "You wanna get paid, right? All you have to do is take these out for a little spin around the apartment. The odds of you bumping into anything are extremely low, since we moved all the furniture over to the walls."

"_'We?'" _Sora repeated incredulously. "What _'we'? _All you did was lounge around on the couch while _I _pushed it over!"

"Hey, what can I say? My body's not built for strenuous tasks. But, it _is_ built for handing over this pouch of munny." Hiro shook the bag again, grinning charmingly at Sora.

Sora's entire body twitched. He sighed in defeat. "At least tell me what this is for?"

Hiro chuckled. "Nah. It'd ruin the surprise. So, are you ready?" He took out a remote with a big, red button. "Here goes: One...Two..."

"I have a bad feeling about th-"

"THREE!"

"-Wha-" Sora felt his feet begin to rumble, looking down to see the strange contraptions Hiro put on the rollerblades spark with life. The rumbles intensified until his whole body convulsed. His teeth chattered wildly, unstoppingly. "Hiro, what-AAHHH!"

Screaming, he zoomed through the living room to the small hall where Hiro's room was located in and back again to repeat the cycle. It was like going in circles. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hiro quickly jotting down notes, completely unaffected by his rising anxiety.

"...Not as fast as expected..." He heard him mutter under his breath. "I'll have to scrounge up some new parts..." He raised his voice. "You doin' okay there, Sora?"

Sora couldn't reply: he was too busy screaming. He was like this for a total of ten seconds, until finally he crashed into the wall, crumbling down onto the floor. Now on his back, his hands and legs spread out, he gazed up at the ceiling dazedly, groaning lightly.

Looking up when he heard a loud _thud, _Hiro's eyes bugged and he scrambled over to Sora's side. His hands hovered around him, inching close, then away again as he sat himself up. "Whoa! Are you okay?!"

Sora groaned. He threw his helmet off and shook his head, similar to a puppy trying to get dry. He took a deep breath before he leaned towards Hiro expectantly. "I'll have my munny now."

"Yup, you're alright." Hiro straightened up and picked up the clipboard he dropped earlier. He scanned over it once more, nodded, then perused Sora. "Any chance I can get you to do another test?"

"Eh..." Sora pretended to think. "Less than zero."

Hiro frowned. "Fine." He took his munny pouch out and threw it over. Sora scrambled to catch it, crying out triumphantly as he pocketed it. He grinned.

"Thanks, man!"

"Eh, don't mention it. Got plenty more where _that _came from."

"And where'd you get all of it?"

Neither of the two boys had noticed Hiro's older brother enter the apartment. He approached them with an expression that seemed to be a mix of curiosity and suspicion, most of it directed at Hiro. He was a robotics engineering student, a good one if Cass was to be believed, but he didn't know about anything the way he knew about Hiro. He could tell by the way Hiro had frozen he got the munny doing something he would not approve of. Giving Sora a small wave in greeting, he crossed his arms and waited patiently for an explanation.

Hiro cleared his throat. "Just, you know, a few odd jobs here and there..."

Tadashi narrowed his eyes. "Hiro..."

"Oh, look, it's getting dark out!" Hiro rushed over to the window and raised the blinds to reveal a cloudless, light blue sky. "...Er, but still! It's almost 8 o' clock: maybe you could give Sora a ride home, huh, big brother?"

"_You're doing the other kids' homework again, aren't you?"_

"Sora! Don't you have a curfew you need to get home by?" Hiro whirled to face him almost desperately.

Sora raised his eyebrows. "Hiro, I'm eighteen years old-" Hiro widened his eyes at him meaningfully, and he caught on. "Oh, uh, yeah! Totally. My mom gets worried sick if I'm out for too long. Think you could you give me a ride home on your moped?"

"Can it wait a minute? I think Hiro and I need to talk." Tadashi glared at his younger brother, who chuckled nervously and sent Sora another furtive glance. He coughed.

Joining Hiro's side, Sora insisted, "Yeah, no, but my mom's a real worrier. She has to breathe into a bag if I'm even, like, a minute past curfew."

Tadashi looked at them suspiciously. Hiro and Sora widened their eyes endearingly, the latter sticking his lower lip out in a pout. Seconds passed. Finally Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Fine, but we are _having_ that talk later, Hiro. Come on, Sora." He turned around, and thus missed Hiro and Sora exchange high fives with wide grins on their faces.

Crisis averted!

…

For now.

* * *

><p>"Mom, I'm home!" Sora called out as he flung the door open and entered his apartment. Tadashi had dropped him off in front before speeding off, but not without congratulating Sora on his acceptance to UZ (And questioning him on what he knew about Hiro's unethical homework business).<p>

He could hear the sound of his mother shuffling through the closet. "Just a minute, honey!" His mother called out. "How was work today?"

"Same as usual," Sora shrugged, even though his mother couldn't see him. He made his way over to the kitchen archway where beyond it his mother was crouched down in front of the closet, going through a large cardboard box. "I got some munny helping out Hiro and in tips."

"That's great, honey!" His mother put down the book in her hands, stood up, and turned to smile at him. She was a woman whose name (Belle) fit her face perfectly in spite of her straggly hair and sallow skin. She must have just come back from her job at the supermarket, if the sweat on her forehead was anything to go by.

She smiled proudly, and for a minute Sora saw his mother from ten years ago, shining and carefree. "You'll have to work hard if you want to earn enough munny to pay tuition for UZ."

"Yeah, I know." Sora looked around. "Where's Dad?"

His mother bent down and picked up the large cardboard box at her feet. "He decided to work the night shift. We figured, now that we don't have masses of students' classwork to grade, might as well put in some extra hours at the market, amongst other things. He's doing tonight's shift, tomorrow it'll be my turn, and we'll keep switching off."

Sora frowned, "Do you guys need any munny? Cause I can give you some no problem-"

"Oh, no, Sora, no!" Belle shook her head. Her hands trembling underneath the weight of the box, Sora hurried over and helped her put the box back on the closet shelf. "We're doing fine, Sora, don't worry. You keep all your munny for books and tuition and everything else."

"Then why-"

"It's nothing," Belle said hastily. "It's just we had another talk with Mr. McDougall-"

Sora groaned. "Ugh, _again?" _

"I know, but-he is the landlord, and he needs all the munny he can get to keep the place up...and running..." Belle trailed off, obviously not believing in her own words. "This is nothing new, honey, so please, don't worry about it. Your father and I will get us through this, we always have."

She smiled. Sora gazed at his mother sadly. "Mom..."

"_Don't worry about it," _Belle repeated firmly. "You just focus on college. No child of mine will have anything less than a college degree." She reached out and patted Sora's cheek with a small, warm smile, but he could still see the worry in her eyes.

He went to his room. It was worn in and filled with old toys, books, and dirty clothes he had yet to wash. There was a bag on the floor, half-filled with items he planned to take with him to college. Clothes, his yearbook, textbooks he'd bought off eBay, etc., etc. There was a small wooden wardrobe placed against one of the walls, decorated with a lamp and his wooden sword. A regular bedroom.

He strode to the wooden wardrobe, gripped one of the edges, and pushed it aside to reveal a large hole in the wall. He ducked his head, went through, and was immediately pounced on and licked ferociously by a black-coated dog with brown paws and a brown jaw and nose. Laughing, Sora struggled to get up under the dog's weight. He managed to sit up with the dog still on his stomach, and scratched his large floppy ears ecstatically.

"Hey, Goofy," he chuckled. "Missed me, huh?"

He was answered with another lick on the cheek.

They were joined by two more animals, a white feathered duck and a small brown mouse. The duck fluttered up in the air and jumped into Sora's lap ("Shhh! Donald!" Sora scolded when his quacking started to become too loud) while the mouse approached his hand and sniffed it in greeting. Grinning, Sora flipped his hand to expose his palm. The mouse accepted the invitation, scurrying onto his hand and twirling around merrily.

It was his Secret Room-his and Riku's. Sora discovered this room two years ago when Riku pushed him into the wardrobe. Luckily no one else was home and the wardrobe wasn't broken into smithereens-but a large portion of the wall was broken down, shattered to reveal a slightly smaller than medium sized empty room. There wasn't a lot to say about it-it was just a room. Sora and Riku debated on what to do with it. They bounced several ideas off of each other, ranging from a game room to a place to hide the junk food their mothers wouldn't let them keep in their rooms. This went on for days until they came across a stray dog in the park, thin and bony from hunger and its black coat embedded with grime. They took him to Riku's house, fed him, and cleaned him up in Riku's bathtub. He was in mid bath when Riku's mother walked in and caught them. She refused to let the dog stay in her house, and Sora's parents weren't keen on the idea either, which left them at a crossroad until they remembered the Secret Room.

It became Goofy's (as dubbed by Sora) new home. He was the room's sole resident for months before they found Donald and Mickey, and the trio of animals had been living behind Sora's wall ever since.

Mickey squeaked, jumping off Sora's palm and lifting his head up at him almost expectantly. "Sorry, Mick," Sora smiled wistfully. "Riku won't be back for another couple of days."

Mickey squeaked sadly. Donald quacked, stumbled over to the mouse, and used his bill to scoop Mickey up from the floor. Goofy barked and ran circles around the other animals, tripping over his feet in excitement.

Sora laughed. "You guys must be tired of being cooped up in here all the time, huh?"

Goofy yelped.

"Don't worry, guys, I promise I'll take you guys out to the park tomorrow, okay? No one will be in the house all day, so it won't be hard to sneak you guys in and out."

Pandemonium. If animals could cheer, Sora would swear that was what they were doing. Donald quacked and flittered up in the air, his wings flapping while Mickey and Goofy chased each other around the room ignorant to Sora's cries for them to keep it _down, _guys, do you _want _Mom to catch us?! But in the end, he couldn't stop from laughing alongside with them.

Times like these made it easy to forget his troubles. They were only forgotten, though, _not _lost, and he was all too reminded of them half an hour later after saying goodnight to his pets. He was ready to hit the hay and sleep already until he heard the sound of faint mumbles from outside. Curious, he stealthily approached his bedroom door, creaked it open so there was a crack, and saw his mother arguing with a man he recognized as their landlord.

Scrooge McDougall (what were his parents thinking?) was a short old man who held himself up high with a bitter sort of dignity and an air of ice cold aloofness. This contrasted with the laugh lines on his face and his wild grey hair, not to mention the out of place top hat placed neatly on his head.

"...Sir, you've already upped the rent twice in the last two months _alone," _Sora heard his mother say. "You can't do it a third time."

"Ma'am," Scrooge spoke with a slight Scottish accent. "As I've told you in the past, I have certain expenses to pay and this building is one of my top earners. If you don't like how I do things you are more than welcome to leave and find a new home."

Sora scoffed. _Yeah, right. _Scrooge would never let them leave. He was one of the most influential people in town. He'd blackball them to homeowners in Daybreak Town if any of his tenants tried to leave (and Sora knew that, because Scrooge had done so when Pete Pusa moved out five years ago. Last he heard he was living in a trailer.).

Outside in the living room Belle tried a different tactic to reason with Scrooge. "Mr. McDougall, please think about this. It's summer vacation. My husband and I are on break from our jobs at the high school, and our son is getting ready to leave for college, so we have to save some munny for that. We won't have any more for the rent-"

"You managed the last two times, you can do it again." Scrooge cut across her coldly. "Perhaps your son could help you out. It'd do him some good to get off his bum and work like a boy his age should be."

Belle hesitated. "It's his last summer before college-"

"Bah! You baby him too much. When I was his age I was working two jobs-I'd _been _working two jobs since I was a wee lad, and look where I am now! Do you really want your son to end up...well, like _you?" _

Sora's fingers tightened around the doorknob. He took deep breaths in and out, and the ripples of anger that stirred up in his body settled down into a sense of lull.

_You're the reason we're _like _this, McDougall. _Sora thought. _My parents haven't done anything wrong-it's all _you.

He was punched in the abdomen by guilt. It wasn't McDougall's fault he was like this. Not COMPLETELY. He used to be sort of nice, the type of man who kept candy in his pockets in case he ran into a child. The type of man who let Sora try on his top hat and only got a little mad when Sora lost it in the playground. Not anymore.

"Believe us, Mr. McDougall, that is the last thing Adam and I want for him." Belle said after a minute's silence. "We'll talk to him, but you know how stubborn kids are."

"...Not as well as I used to," Scrooge said, except now his voice lost its edge, exposing a shade of sadness in his voice. Sora felt his heart beat fall into rhythm with the slight wobble in Scrooge's voice.

_I miss them too, Scrooge. _

"Very well! I'll be back at the end of the month to collect your fee. I hope Sora will have done some growing up by then."

Belle smile and ushered Scrooge out. "You and I both, sir," she said dryly, and shut the door locked. She sighed, collapsed onto the wall, and rested for a minute before pushing herself back up and shaking her head. She put both hands on her temples and massaged them gently.

"I know you're out there," she called out tiredly.

Sora burst out of his room. "Okay, are you _sure _you don't want any munny? Because if he's upped the rent again-unfair, by the way, wasn't 10,000 munny enough?-I could help out with the bills, pitch in some of my savings-"

"Absolutely **not." **Belle said firmly. "Sora, if Scrooge finds out about your...'stash', he won't hesitate to take it from you. What would you do then, steal it back? No child of mine is a felon."

"But _Mom-"_

"Honey, listen to me," Belle's voice softened. "We know who Scrooge is. Your father and I? There is a big chance we will never move out of here. But you-you're young, you have your whole life ahead of you. You're the only one of us who can leave without Scrooge's threats hanging over your head. And the only way you can do that is by going to college. Your father and I have had to...dip into your college fund, and it sickens me every day-"

"Mom, you don't have any other choice. Scrooge is-"

"It still doesn't feel right." Belle whispered. "We still have some munny left for your college expenses, but it's not enough. It's up to you to earn the rest."

"I know, Mom, you've been telling me since I was a kid." Sora rolled his eyes, irritated. He really didn't mind giving his parents a couple of coins if it meant they could take a break once in awhile. They worked so hard, harder than he ever did. At least when he worked, he had his friends by his side to chat with. His parents had no confidants except for each other, and that couldn't be good for their marriage.

Some light reentered Belle's eyes, and she eyed her son mischievously. "'Was'? Sweetheart. you still are a kid."

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Sora stood up straight and tall. "I'm eighteen years old! I can-I can join the army if I wanted to."

Belle chuckled. "Right. Tell me how that goes, okay?"

It actually wasn't a bad idea, Sora thought as he went back to his room. He heard people in the Navy were paid to travel around the world and help people. He loved helping people, and it was his dream to travel the world.

_Yeah, _he crawled into his bed, letting out a huge yawn. _Not a bad idea at all._

* * *

><p><em>*thinks of Anna* Strange minds think alike. Don't worry, he's not going to join the army.<br>_

_Chapter 3 will probably be up by...next week? Probably. I've got like, six pages down. I'm aiming for a minimum of 10 pages per chapter-i have yet to complete that goal, but my chapters are longer than ever, so yeah. _

_In other news, I got my first college acceptance letter! SUNY Oswego, babiiieeeezz! If you wanna congratulate me, a review will do just fine :) I kid, of course, but a review **would** be appreciated very much.  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3: Crack in the Frozen Pond

_Thanks to Xelaric the Nobody, who read through this chapter for me._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three <strong>

**Crack in the Frozen Pond**

* * *

><p>"Clothes, check. Munny, check. Ticket, check-"<p>

"Don't forget your snack bag!" Anna called out from the other side of the room, holding up a plastic bag with a PB&J sandwich inside. Still garbed in her fluffy pink pajamas, she sat cross-legged on her bed, barefoot and wiggling her toes excitedly.

"Thanks, Anna." Kairi took the bag and put it in her handbag. "Okay, is that all? I think that's all." She pulled out the list she drew up days earlier and looked it over. Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled in relief. "Okay, I am officially finished packing."

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Anna jumped off her bed and pumped her fists. "I'm starting my first day with the troupe today and you're heading off to Splendore's! We're growing up!"

Kairi rolled her eyes and smiled. "Anna, I don't go for another two months. Right now the only thing starting for _me_ is my summer vacation."

"That's just as amazing!"

Kairi laughed. She was looking forward to this. Two months back home. Hours at the beach, roaming around in the cold waters. Eating ice cream for dinner because of the ridiculous heat. Actual quality time with her grandmother. No homework, no tests.

_No singing lessons. _

She squished down that rebellious thought.

"I told my mom about the whole 'not coming back home' thing," Anna said. The tone of her voice made it clear how that conversation had went.

Kairi smirked. "She didn't take it well?"

"My ears are still ringing," Anna said sheepishly. "She was all," She lowered her voice. "'What on earth are you thinking? Do you even know these people you're running off with? They could be serial killers!'"

"There _is_ a thing called 'Stranger Danger'."

"Oh, don't worry about me," Anna rushed over to her nightstand, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a small bottle of mace. "I'm prepared for any dangers that might come my way."

"Good," Kairi nodded. She worried about Anna sometimes. She was a kind and loving person, and Kairi was grateful she'd had her as both a roommate and as friend during her years at RGP, but she was a little too naive for her own good. Her tryst with that boy from the neighboring high school-Harold, Hans something?-was a good example. It was easy to forget (and comforting to remember) behind that cute face was a badass just waiting for the chance to make a scene. "What time do you have to get ready for...work?"

"Not for another hour," Anna answered. "But all my stuff is packed and ready to be moved into the trailer! I can't wait, it'll be such an amazing experience. When do you have to leave?"

Kairi checked her watch. "It's getting really close...if we want to say goodbye, we better do it now."

The two girls walked over to each other and hugged. "I'm gonna miss you _so _much," Anna exhaled. "I couldn't have asked for a better roommate. You were one of the best things about this place."

Kairi chuckled. "You too."

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds. "Say hi to my sister for me, okay?" Anna said as they let go of each other. "And-and try to talk to her every now and then, make sure she gets some fresh air. She'll bury herself in her work if someone doesn't stop her."

"Definitely," Kairi assured her. She wiped away a stray tear from the corner of her eye. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. I'm happy to help. Besides, I've wanted to meet Elsa for awhile. I want to meet the girl who took you out sledding in the middle of night when you were little kids."

Anna's chest puffed with pride. "Our mom still has no idea."

Laughing, Kairi and Anna gave each other another quick hug, and Kairi grabbed her suitcase and made her way out of their (ex)room. Her hand still on the doorknob, Kairi looked back to see Anna, bed-headed and barefoot, waving at her as cheerfully as she could, but unable to stop her eyebrows from scrunching together.

This would be the last time she'd see Anna for awhile, she realized. She was off to perform for the masses and Kairi-well, the same thing, but in a different medium. They wouldn't see each other again for who _knows_ how long. She'd known that, but it was only just sinking in. And it stung.

"Bye," Kairi whispered, a tear strolling down her cheek.

As she closed the door, she didn't see Anna sniffle sadly.

* * *

><p>It was a lengthy train ride. Kairi left the station in Radiant Garden at around eleven, and it was around 4 o'clock in the afternoon when the train docked at Traverse Town. Luckily, she'd been asleep for most of it, but she was thankful she had the thoughtfulness to pack a couple of books. She put away her copy of <em>Guardians of the Galaxy <em>as the train doors opened and the rest of the passengers piled out. She followed them outside to the platform, where people waited for their loved ones to return. Her eyes roamed over the wave of individuals and up when they landed on a spiky, red-headed figure.

She set her luggage up straight and called out, "Axel!"

The man looked up from his phone and grinned. "Heey! What's up, kid?"

She grinned back. "I'm a high school graduate _and _I turned eighteen last week."

Axel leaned forward, arms crossed. "Congrats. You're another step closer to the real world."

'"Another step'? You mean I'm not there yet?" Kairi grabbed the handle of her suitcase and tugged it along behind her. She followed Axel outside the station and to his fiery red car. Opening up the trunk, Axel lifted her suitcase up and slid it inside.

"Not until you start paying for things yourself, kid."

"I certainly would like to. Maybe you could talk to my grandmother about it?"

"And risk offending the woman who provides me my livelihood?" Axel barked out a laugh. "_No thank you." _

Kairi grimaced. "You make her sound like-"

"A total bitch? Eh, sorry."

"It's fine," Kairi said dryly. "But...call my grandmother a-a...b-bitch again, and...it won't end well for you."

They drove in silence for several minutes. At one point, Axel turned on the radio.

"_Crystals, blisters,  
>Its all over now,<br>Psycho cane,  
>Your so keen,<br>I need more candy canes~"  
><em>

"Stephanie?"

"I'm a man of hidden depths." Axel replied, to which Kairi giggled. "So, any plans for the summer? Last one before college. Pretty intense."

"Yeah, no kidding. I'm just taking it one day at a time." Kairi looked out the window at the stores outside. One of them possessed a sign that read _Kenai and Koda's __Pet Grotto. _"I have no idea what to do with all the free time I'm gonna have without my singing lessons."

She couldn't stop a twinge of excitement from bleeding into her voice. Ever since she was twelve, she'd been taking private vocal lessons with a renowned singer, an elderly man named Forte who made her wonder how a man like him ever became popular ANYWHERE. Every summer, every winter and spring break vacations were filled with lessons that left her physically and emotionally exhausted every day. It would be so nice to take a break and _not feel __hollow. _

They stopped at a red light. Axel turned to face Kairi, eyebrows raised. "You're...not taking lessons this summer?"

"No. I figured, I'm about to go to a school completely dedicated to singing. My voice will probably croak out in the first week. So why not take a break?" Her eyebrows furrowed at Axel's gobsmacked expression. "What's with the face?"

Axel opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the traffic light blinking green. He accelerated across the blacktop. "I talked with your grandma last night. She, uh, she said I was supposed to drive you over to Forte's tomorrow morning."

"...She-she said _what?" _

Overcome with shock, Kairi ducked her head so her hair hid her face and the distress struggling to make itself visible. She bit her lip, wrung her fingers, and struggled to regain control of her breathing. Her chest heaving, her shoulders began to shake, and she immediately sat up straight and smiled. Her hands curled into fists, she forced herself to chuckle.

"That-I guess I have to talk to my grandmother. There's obviously been a misunderstanding."

_This can't be happening, _she thought desperately. _Please, God, no. I __need-I need a break, __I need time __to do the __things _I _want__ please God I can't I don't want to please please __Grandma no __Mom I'm sorry _

She coughed, pushing her thoughts down into an imaginary suitcase and laboring to zip the bag shut. To get all those thoughts in and throw them away where they couldn't bother her. "Are we there yet?" Kairi asked sweetly.

Although he was peering at her strangely, Axel did not comment on her behavior. "We're maybe five minutes away."

"Okay. T-then, uh-wait a second-" Kairi reached into her handbag, pulled out her wallet, and took out a small slip of paper. She handed it to Axel. "Could you take me there, please?"

"What about home?"

"Is my grandmother there?" He shook his head and she sighed. Her grandmother usually helped calm her down, but with her gone distance would have to do. "A friend of mine told me to head over to her house. She has some unfinished business over there and she can't make it back, so I offered to help her out."

"With what?"

"Oh," Kairi smirked. "Some girl stuff she needs back. Bras, tampons, things like that."

"**Blegh!" **Axel shuddered. "Kairi, _what the hell? _I don't want to know that!"

She snickered. "You're such a _boy._"

"_I _am _100 percent _man." Axel claimed, holding his head up high.

The Frederiksen's house was HUGE. Getting out of the car, Kairi gaped at the manor as Axel sped away, shocked by how-_fancy _it was. Her mind jumped to an image of Anna eating spaghetti, half of it in her mouth and the other half splattered on her cheeks and chin. The sheer contrast of that image with the sight in front of her caused a small wire in her brain to fizzle. Incredulous, she made her way to the front door and, readjusting her bag, knocked firmly and loudly.

The door opened after the fourth knock, revealing a portly man with dark reddish brown hair. "Good afternoon, miss. How can I help you?"

"Yeah, hi, um," Kairi struggled to find her words. "I'm Kairi. I'm a friend of Anna's-we went to Radiant Garden's Prep School for Girls together-and she gave me her home address. I was wondering if I could please talk to Elsa?"

"Hold on a moment," The man withdrew into the building. Moments passed, and he returned. "She will be down shortly. Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, no, that's okay," Kairi declined. "I'm not planning on staying long. I was actually hoping I could convince Elsa to hang out for a couple of hours in the market."

The man frowned gently. "Miss Frederiksen is busy with her studies. I doubt she will have the time to 'hang out'."

Kairi laughed nervously. "No harm in asking, right?"

The sound of footsteps approached them. Kairi stepped back, the man opened the door further, and a young woman became visible. Dismissing the man, the woman gazed at Kairi inquisitively. She was very beautiful, with creamy white skin and platinum blonde hair. She reminded Kairi of a porcelain doll. "Hello. I'm Elsa Frederiksen. You're a friend of Anna's?"

"I was her roommate over in Radiant Garden," said Kairi. "She gave me your address and said I should look you up if I ever got the chance. So...here I am!"

"Here you are," Elsa repeated, not unkindly. She smiled awkwardly. Halfway inside the shadows of her home and halfway out in the bright sun, there wasn't any of Anna's spark visible in her.

Kairi smiled hopefully. "I loved living with Anna. She told me a lot of great things about you, and I'd really like to get to know you better. You wanna get some food? It's 2:00 so it's a little late for lunch, but-"

Elsa frowned. "I'm sorry, I can't. I have a lot of homework to do, plus some extra material my mother wants me to go through..."

"Oh...That's fine, I guess. How about tomorrow?"

Elsa's frown deepened. "I...well..." Her eyes started darting around, she ran a hand through her hair. She tilted her head a bit to the left, hiding portions of her face in the shadows.

Kairi deflated. "O-okay...well, here," Pulling a tiny notepad out of her bag, she scribbled down her phone number and handed it to Elsa. "If you ever get some free time, call me up, okay? I really would like to hang out with you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Elsa gave Kairi another small smile, turned around and shut the door closed. Kairi was left standing on the porch, shoulders sagged.

* * *

><p>Going home was the last thing she wanted to do, but she didn't like hanging out in public places alone, so about half an hour later Kairi found herself opening the door to her house. She smiled a bit upon the sight of the familiar walls and portraits hanging around, but otherwise was somber as she went upstairs to her room. It was a big room, the walls painted pink and the bed adjourned with large, poofy pillows. Her suitcase was placed in the corner, and she heaved it up to the bed and started unpacking.<p>

As she dug deeper into her suitcase, she paused when she found an old photo of her and her mother. Her mother beamed at the camera, one hand out in a 'peace' sign while her other arm was wrapped loosely around seven year old Kairi, who was copying the expression on her mother's face. They were set behind a table with a chocolate cake on it, the words _Happy birthday, Mom! _written sloppily on top.

Holding the photo in her hands, Kairi gingerly held it against her chest. Eyes closed, she stayed like this for several seconds before she folded the photo, put it in her wallet, and resumed unpacking.

After she was done she went downstairs to make herself a sandwich. Italian bread, ham and egg with tomatoes, salad and light mayonnaise, she took a bite, only to scrunch her nose and spit it back out (how was it possible to screw up a sandwich?)

She watched TV. She rearranged the cans in the kitchen cabinets. She cleaned the living room. She kept busy until it was almost 6 o' clock and her grandmother finally returned home. She was sweeping the floors when she heard her grandmother's voice cut through the air.

"Kairi? Darling, are you here?"

Kairi released the broom she was holding and rushed to her grandmother's side to hug her. "Welcome home!"

"Ha ha, aren't we cheery today?" Her grandmother laughed. Kairi paid her no mind, snuggling her face into her neck.

"I'm home, aren't I?" Kairi let her go and put her arms behind her back. "Isn't that something worth being happy about?"

"Of course!" Her grandmother replied. "Think of all the fun we'll have together!"

Kairi didn't respond to that, because she knew they weren't going to get to spend any real time together. Her grandmother was a busy, busy woman after all. Instead she followed her into the kitchen and asked, "How was work today?"

"Same as usual. The board was really on my case today about our latest jewelry line. They don't seem to think the Wayfinders' will be successful, but I beg to differ."

"What, are they serious? Those bracelets will be a huge hit!"

"I know! That's what I told them!" Her grandmother flipped through the cookbook left on the counter. "How do you feel about spaghetti and meatballs?"

"Sounds delicious." Kairi hesitated. "Hey, Grandma, I was wondering, earlier when Axel picked me up, he said something about going to Forte's tomorrow?"

"Oh, yes," her grandmother opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a large pot. She turned on the sink, filled it water, and replied, "I know you said you didn't want to take any lessons, but-you're going to Splendore's! It's the most illustrious school for the arts in the world! Only the best of the best are able to attend. You don't want to get rusty, do you?"

"Grandma, it's summer vacation!" Kairi turned the stove on and moved aside so her grandmother could place the pot on top of a drip bowl. "I wanna go to the beach, camp out underneath the stars...maybe stay up all night eating junk food."

"And you can still do all of those things, dear." Her grandmother said. "Except for the junk food part. You'll just have to get through your lessons first. Pass me the spaghetti?"

Kairi did so. "Grandma, it's my last summer before _college! _I don't want to have to deal with any responsibility. I just want to have fun!"

"And you _will." _Her grandmother insisted. "_After _your lessons. Now, could you give me a spoon?"

"But _Grandma." _Kairi complained. "We had an agreement!"

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you, honey." Said her grandmother. She frowned. "Why are you so upset? You love singing."

_Yeah, in private maybe. Not in front of millions of people like Mom. _

Kairi hesitated. "Yeah, but...but..." She trailed off.

"You're just nervous," Her grandmother said. "I remember when your mother first went to Splendore's, she was a nervous wreck. She would call me out of the blue to rant about how more talented the other students were and how out of her league she was. But she grew out of it, and when she did...she was simply marvelous." She smiled nostalgically. "You really are a lot like her."

There it was. Those burning tingles of joy spreading from her heart to the rest of her body. "You think so?" Kairi couldn't help blushing, and placed a hand on the base of her throat.

Her grandmother put her hands on Kairi's cheeks. "I see it every time you're up on stage."

Kairi let out a small breath of air. Bringing her hand up to her grandmother's, she gently pulled them off and said, "Okay. I'll-I'll take the lessons."

Her grandmother beamed.

After dinner, Kairi went back up to her room and headed straight for the mirror on her wall. She stared at her reflection: she saw a young woman, with shoulder length auburn hair and indigo blue eyes framed by dark eyelashes. Her skin was a light shade of apricot. Looking at herself, she would have almost thought she was her mother.

Kairi whirled around and bounced down on to the bed. Her mother died six years ago after some complications in a surgery at the hospital, and it hurt to think about it even now. But still, she'd rather live with the hurt than forget the beautiful person her mother was. Her father having left before she was even born, her mother was both parents for her, nurturing, encouraging, and strict. She knew when it was time to give her daughter either an extra push in the right direction, or a gentle hug for comfort. She made sure she always had time for Kairi, in spite of her copacetic career in singing.

Her mother was a singer too, though she was more opera and classical, in contrast with Kairi's pop/rock/indie style. Whenever her grandmother hosted a party for other high society people, her mother would always end up singing to the crowd. They listened in silent reverence to her, none of them even moving. Kairi still remembered sitting in her grandmother's lap, arms wrapped around her, listening to her mother's smooth and enchanting voice float around the room and sighing happily when her voice kissed her ears. Her mother sang in many languages. Mainly in English, but other times in Latin or Japanese. But you didn't need to understand the words to hear the emotions behind them. To hear the passion and energy driven into the words. She always gave a tiny curtsy when she was done, and the crowds clapped and stood up from their seats for her. Kairi and her grandmother always clapped the hardest.

She flopped down on her back, rolled over on her stomach, and reached for the book she took out earlier. Before she could pick up where she left off, however, her cell phone went off.

"_Good girls do bad things sometimes,  
>But we get by with it,<br>Good girls do bad things sometimes,  
>But we get by with it~"<em>

Anna. Kairi picked up and greeted, "Hello?"

"_Hey, Kairi!" _Anna's voice beamed through. _"How's it going? You're back home, right? Obviously, you must be, it's been like an entire day since you left, but you never know, maybe something happened with the train. Did it? Are you okay?" _

"Yeah, I'm fine." Laying down on the bed, Kairi crossed her legs. "How are you? How was your first day performing?"

"_Ohmigosh, it was sooo amazing!" _Anna began to gush. _"We did this play on Red Hiding Hood. I was the wolf-I had these adorable little wolf ears and gloves, and they even painted whiskers on my face!" _

"I thought the big bad wolf was supposed to be scary?" Kairi asked.

"_Please, that old rendition's been done a million times. You gotta shake things up sometimes! Here the Big Bad Wolf is Red's loyal pet who saves her from the evil witch in the woods trying to cook her up in a pie." _

"You mean like that witch from Hansel and Gretel?"

"_Yup! So, uh, did you-um...I know you just got there but-"_

"I saw your sister a couple of hours ago." Kairi sat up. "We talked for a bit. She acted-a little shy..."

"_She's like that with everyone," _dismissed Anna. _"She's not a people person. But she'll like you, I know it! Have you guys made any plans yet? You'll have so much fun. You guys should go to the theaters, Elsa's a big fan of horror flicks." _

"She _is?" _

"_...Why do you sound so surprised?" _

"Because-...erm, never mind." Kairi decided not to say anything. "I'll try it, but I don't think Elsa wants to spend a lot of time with me. She seemed _really_ nervous while we were talking."

"_Like you said, she's shy. If you keep at it long enough, she's bound to warm up to you eventually." _

"...Yeah, right..."

"_I really need you to do this for me, Kai," _Anna surprised Kairi with the sudden shift in tone. Serious, concerned, quiet. _"__I'm pretty much Elsa's only friend-scratch that. I __**am **__her only frien__d. __She told me she's okay with me not coming home,__but it kills me that __she's all alone, __without me __to make sure she's okay. __The only thing stopping me from hopping on a train __t__here is the fact you're there __already__. __You gotta take care of her for me, okay? Promise me you'll do that, __**please." **_

By the end of her request, her tone had turned pleading. Frowning concernedly, Kairi answered, "I promise."

"_Thank you." _Anna sighed in relief. _"Don't worry, I'll help out. I'll talk to her about spending some time with you. It might help if I mention you don't have any friends in town either." _

"Hey, I-" Kairi cut herself off. Why deny the truth? It wasn't like she was on speaking terms with Namine, anyway. "Okay, fine."

They spoke for another ten minutes about random stuff, mostly about Anna's new friends in the troupe, and then said goodnight and hung up. Putting her phone on her nightstand, she hesitated. Still holding her phone, she considered calling Namine and asking her how she was. She got as far as unlocking the screen before chickening out and placing her phone back.

She probably didn't want to talk with her anyway.

* * *

><p>Whatever Anna said to Elsa worked wonders, because the next morning, after her grandmother had left for work and while she was eating breakfast, the doorbell rang. Kairi answered the door and found herself face to face with Anna's older sister, who looked as nervous as she had the day before, although it appeared she was trying to hide it better than before.<p>

"Hello," Elsa greeted her shyly. "I, um, found some free time."

It took a minute for Kairi to recover from her shock. Then she smiled warmly. "Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed. Then we can head out."

_Looks like i__t'll be a good day after all, _Kairi thought as she headed up to her room. She'd have to explain to her grandmother why she didn't go to Forte's, but she'd understand. After all, it was for a friend's sake. She called Axel, told him not to come for her. She got dressed and left the house with Elsa.

"Anna says you're working at your mom's company." Kairi said as Elsa drove. "What do you guys even do?"

The blonde didn't look away from the road. "We're, uh, mainly in the home decorating business. Silverware, bedding, clocks, stuff like that."

"You make clocks?"

Elsa shook her head. "N-no. I'm still studying business. My mother's the chairman, so she overseas production, keeps a track of finances, calls board meetings...things like that. She used to share the job with my father, but..." she paused. Her voice wobbled slightly. "He-he died, so my mother started preparing me and Anna for the job. She's determined to keep it a family business."

"That's sweet," Kairi said helpfully. "Except-Anna doesn't seem to think of it that way." Her voice rang in her mind:

_"Yes, I have! I thought long and hard about this. I thought about how my mom's been shoving business and finances and other boring company stuff down my throat since I was seven and how my sister's completely given into her ___and___ how her whole life is basically our family's company. I thought about it, and I refuse to let it become my life, too."_

"Anna's always been a free spirit," the corners of Elsa's mouth turned upward. "She'd go crazy if she became a member of the board. But someone has to do it."

"And that someone is you?" Kairi asked teasingly.

Elsa frowned. "Yeah..." She said softly. "It has to be. I'm the only one left." She fell silent. Her eyes glazed over, as if her mind had jumped out of her head.

"But enough about that," Elsa changed the subject as she made a turn. "Anna's told me about you, too. Planning on being a singer, huh?"

Blanching, Kairi tried to smile. "Y-yeah, I guess. That's the plan, anyway."

"You 'guess'?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. "You mean, you're not sure?"

"N-no, no, I'm sure, alright! Completely and totally sure!" Kairi's smile widened. "I can't wait to start classes and get started! Stardom, here I come!" She clenched her fists when she realized her hands were starting to shake.

Elsa glanced sideways at her, but didn't say anything. "You, um, up for some breakfast? There's this cafe in the market if you want to grab some hot chocolate or something."

"Breakfast? Um..." Kairi already ate. Still, she smiled and nodded. "Sounds like fun. Where are we going?"

"This place my sister and I used to go to when we were little." Elsa smiled a little at the memory. "I haven't been there in awhile. It's called the Lucky Cat Cafe. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Yeah, I have," Kairi said. "I've never actually went in, though."

To her surprise, Elsa gave a small chuckle. "Then you are in for a treat."

Twenty minutes later, Kairi and Elsa found themselves in the Lucky Cat Cafe. Kairi found herself enchanted by the inside. It was pretty, in an exotic sort of way. They went to the counter where Elsa ordered a blueberry muffin and two large mugs of hot chocolate. "You sure you don't want anything to go with that?" Elsa asked as they sat at a table. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and sighed appreciatively.

"I'm fine," Kairi answered. She took a deep gulp of her hot chocolate and 'mmmed' in delight. "This is delicious. I need to take some for the road."

"Isn't it?" Elsa hesitated for a minute before raising her mug up to the air. Kairi raised hers as well, and they chinked their mugs together.

* * *

><p><em>Yeah! This is actually part 1 of 2 of the entire third chapter. I'm not finished with the second half, but I don't want to keep any readers out there waiting, so...here! For anyone who's wondering when Sora and Kairi will actually meet, here's a small spoiler: it'll happen in the next update-and it'll be a little awkward, at least in my opinion.<em>


	4. Chapter 3, Part 2: Scattered Spirits

_Thanks to Xelaric, who looked through this for me._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three Point 5 <strong>

**Scattered Spirits**

* * *

><p>By 9 a.m. the Lucky Cat Cafe was bustling with noise. Aqua and Tiana were clinking their spatulas against the frying pans while Tifa Lockhart and the other waiters darted around the building. Nothing out of ordinary about that, right? Except for one detail. Tifa took a break from taking people's orders to stare at the spiky headed boy in front of her.<p>

"Sora, what are you _doing?_"

"I'm-whoah!" Flaying, Sora lunged to grab a chair in an attempt to hold himself up straight. "I-I'm w-working!" Letting go of the chair, he skated across the floor to a waiting table of customers.

Tifa grew confused. "Care to explain why you're wearing rollerblades?"

"They're not rollerblades," Tadashi Hamada called out from his spot behind the counter. He was polishing the counter with a pink rag. "They're Hiro's jetboots. With the jets deactivated."

"We bet him 400 munny he couldn't go the whole day without falling on his ass," Roxas explained when Tifa continued to look confused. He sat at one of the tables with Ven, who was on his phone texting. "It's been ten minutes and he's already almost fallen down twice. Easiest munny we'll ever make."

The beginnings of a smile made its way onto Tifa's face. "Does Hiro know about this?"

Tadashi grinned and held up his phone. "He's making me take pictures. Says it'll make great blackmail material."

"Think you can email some of those pics to us?" asked Roxas.

"Why can't you take some yourself?"

"Ven's texting Terra."

"So use yours." Tifa said. Roxas didn't say anything, and she exclaimed. "You don't have one?!"

"Sound more shocked!" Roxas said sarcastically. "And for your information, I do have a phone...half of one at least..." Sounding embarrassed, his eyes slid over to Ven.

Tifa followed his gaze. "How can you have half of...You guys share one?"

"Yup!" Ven looked up from his phone smiling. "Our parents figured since we spend most of our time together, we really only needed one."

"What about when Roxas is out on a date?" Tadashi said. "Or when you're hanging out with Terra and Aqua? What if someone calls one of us and wants to talk to the other?"

"I dunno." Roxas shrugged. "But Mom and Dad say munny doesn't grow up on trees."

"Yet here you are, betting 400 of it." Tadashi said flatly. "They must be so proud."

Taking the time to lift his head up, Ven stuck his tongue out at the older man, who rolled his eyes and went back to work.

Meanwhile, Sora was busy wobbling and skating his way around to customers. Most of them eyed him strangely, but they were also laughing good-naturedly with amusement; some of them even tipped him. One little girl kept her eyes on him for an entire minute before turning to her older sister and asking if she could have shoes like his. Another girl got up out of her seat, and was restrained by her father, who picked her up and plopped her back in her seat.

Sora was grinning the entire time. He found himself enjoying the way he wobbled forward and backwards before barely managing to straighten himself up. He skated past Roxas and Ven, who held up his phone in preparation for a photo. Sora contemplated hopping in the air, but he decided against it when it occurred to him that _might _be pushing it. So instead, he gave a thumbs up as he skated past them-

_Crash!_

Roxas, Ventus, and Tadashi all winced. "Ugh, that's gotta hurt..." Roxas muttered while Ven pocketed the 400 munny.

"Should we help...?" Ven's gaze flickered uncertainly between the scene in front of him and his brother, who took a bite of his muffin and he answered simply:

"No." The way Roxas saw it, if Sora was dumb enough to accept the dare in the first place, he could help himself get up. Sticking a hand out to stop Tadashi from helping, he grabbed their phone and aimed it at the scene, a small grin on his face.

For an entire minute, all Sora could see were stars. His whole body aching, he felt something hot, sticky, and squishy pressed against his body under him. His hands plastered against the floor, he crouched down on one knee in an attempt to get up-or at least he tried to. For when he did, he heard a sharp cry that caused him to snap his head down so he could see what exactly it was he'd fallen on.

It was a girl around his age. A pretty one, he realized, a slight blush blooming on his cheeks. She had reddish-brown hair and bluish-purple eyes, the prettiest set of eyes he'd ever seen, wide as plates as they stared up at him blankly. Sora's mind, he found, was just as blank. "Um...hi..." He breathed out.

The girl continued to stare at him, until finally her eyes narrowed and she grimaced. "Erm, e-excuse me..." She tried to talk through gritted teeth. "B-but..."

"But what?"

Her cheeks colored. "Your _knee..." _She grumbled and looked down.

Sora followed her example and peeked down, and his brain froze when he realized his kneecap dug into a part of her anatomy he didn't feel comfortable disclosing. His entire face flooding with warmth, he pushed himself up from the floor to see that the entire front of her outfit was drenched in hot chocolate milk-like his own front, he realized belatedly. He didn't spend a lot of time on it, though, since the girl was still on the floor, having made no attempt to get up on her own. He frowned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eyeing her over in concern, he held out his hand and chuckled nervously. "I-um, sorry...about what just happened...I honestly didn't see you."

"It's...it's okay." The girl hesitated before taking his hand. Sora ignored the spark of giddiness shot through his chest as he helped her up. She was quick to withdraw her hand, diverting her gaze to the floor. "Thank you," she looked up and tried to smile.

Sora beamed. "No problem!" Without even thinking about it he stuck his hand out. "I'm Sora. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Giving him another unsure smile, the girl took his hand. "Maybe next time you should leave the skates at home."

"Ha ha, yeah..." Flustered, Sora ran a hand through his hair. "Come on. I'll help you get cleaned up."

"Oh, no, it's fine." She declined. Letting go of his hand, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stepped to Sora's right. "I can handle it. But, ah, thanks."

She hurried off past him, not looking back as she made her way to the bathroom. Probably for the best, because if she had looked back she would have seen Sora looking at her with an open mouth. He stayed like that for several seconds before he shook his head clear and became aware of the customers' stares. Laughing sheepishly, he propped back up the table he'd knocked down and hunched his way over back to Roxas and Ven. He was completely silent, his mind stuck on what happened merely seconds ago. There was one question burning his mind, refusing to let go, driving him antsy.

_Who was that girl?_

"You okay?" Tadashi asked concernedly. "You've, uh, got chocolate milk all over you..."

"I doubt Tiana's gonna appreciate you dripping that stuff all over the place," Roxas commented idly. "Maybe you should get that cleaned up."

Sora didn't say anything.

Eyes widening, Ven asked tentatively, "...Sora? Are you-are you okay?"

Sora gulped. "Who-who was that girl?" He turned to Tadashi, a strange expression on his face which seemed to be a mesh of curiosity and wariness. His cheeks were tinted pale pink.

Tadashi blinked. "Dunno. Never seen her before."

Roxas observed the spiky-haired teen for several seconds. A smile broke out on his face. "Oh man_," _He chuckled almost incredulously. "He's got a crush!"

Ven started. "Wha-? On _that_ girl? The girl he just crashed into? And spilled food on everywhere?"

"And who he felt up."

"H-HEY!" Sora exploded. "I-I did notf-feel her up!"

"Then what do you call the knee to the...you know...?" Roxas gestured reluctantly.

Sora flushed. "That was an accident! I didn't mean to put my knee there!" He collapsed onto a nearby chair and put his face in his hands. "I can't believe I did that. She must think I'm a total klutz. Or a pervert. Or a **klutzy pervert**."

"It wasn't that bad," Roxas said. "Maybe she likes clumsy guys." That did nothing to improve Sora's mood, and he slouched even lower in his seat.

"You could always apologize." Ven suggested. "It was an accident."

"Are you kidding?" Sora shot back up and stared at the twin brothers with disbelief. "I can't just talk to her!"

He was met with looks of confusion. "Why not?" Roxas was the first to ask.

"B-because!"

"Don't tell me you're shy?" When Sora blushed, Roxas scoffed with disinclination. "You gotta be kidding me. You?_ Shy? _You're the opposite definition of shy." There was a reason why Sora was the Lucky Cat cafe's most popular waiter. He was upbeat, cheerful, he had a kind word and smile for everyone and anyone who came by. You'd have a better chance finding Bigfoot in the kitchen than finding someone who didn't like Sora at least a little bit.

"Yeah, with you guys." Sora fidgeted. He was starting to feel uncomfortable with this topic. "I'm not-I'm not good with girls."

The way he said it, in that hushed tone, it was as if he was shamefully confessing to murder.

Ven cocked an eyebrow. "What about Aqua and Tiana? And Alice and Tifa?"

"They don't count." Sora said swiftly.

"I think Naveen and Terra would disagree with you there, buddy." Roxas said.

"This sorta reminds me about you and your girlfriend," Ven said. "She was super shy too, right? How'd you guys get together again?"

Roxas frowned. "You locked us in a closet for two hours."

"Oh yeah..." Ven grinned unashamedly. "That was Riku and Axel's idea. Hey! Maybe Riku can help you out!"

Lifting his head up, Sora cracked one eye open to peer up at the blond, whose eyes were lit with inspiration. "...What?"

"Yeah, I mean, all the girls at school used to go nuts him, right? Who better to help you out than him?"

"I wouldn't say all the girls liked him," Roxas muttered to himself.

Tadashi, who had been silent for the last several minutes, heard this and glimpsed at Roxas skeptically. "Oh really? So the time ten of our customers were teenage girls on the same day Riku was helping out was just a coincidence, then?"

"So yeah, he could totally help out." Ven said, not paying attention to Roxas' grumbles. His entire body glowed with self-pride over being the one to come up with (in his mind) a foolproof strategy.

But to his surprise, Sora shook his head. "Riku's the last person I would ever want to talk to about something like this," he said. His entire demeanor was murky, as if to contrast with Ven's shining optimism. He continued hastily, "Can we stop talking about this now? This isn't even a thing!"

"Sure. Maybe now you could go get cleaned up." Roxas suggested. His eyes shifted to the handful of people now starting to look over at Sora, who was oblivious to their stares.

He let out a nervous, wary laugh. "Like, now."

Confused, Ven asked: "Hold on, why wouldn't you go to Riku for advice on girls?"

"Because!" Sora threw his hands up. "Even if I did have a crush on someone-which I DON'T-" His voice turned forceful at the last word, and then softened up for the next. "if Riku got involved they'd take one look at him and next thing I know, I'm left in the dust."

"You're being ridiculous. There's no way Riku would do that to you." Ven tried to reassure him.

"You sure about that?" Roxas muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from both boys.

* * *

><p>"What happened again, exactly?" Elsa asked, eyes wide with bemusement.<p>

Kairi made a small disgruntled noise as she rubbed at the chocolate stains on the front of her outfit with a meshed up ball of paper towels. The bathroom faucet she had used to get the towels wet was still running. "Nothing. Just-one of the waiters sort of crashed into me. Guess we shouldn't have ordered all that hot chocolate..."

She said the last part jokingly, but Elsa didn't seem to notice. Instead her confusion only seemed to grow.

"'Crashed' into you?"

"Yeah-he was sort of, uh, wearing skates or something." Kairi said absentmindedly, growing frustrated as time passed and the stains refused to go away. She let out a small growl and dumped the paper towels in the trash can in defeat.

"Wearing skates…" Elsa considered this piece of information. Her face lit with sneaking suspicion. "Was this waiter a boy with spiky brown hair?"

Kairi had been in the middle of washing her hands, but immediately straightened up and perused Elsa curiously. "Y-yeah, it was. He said his name was Sora. Do you know him?"

Elsa cracked a small smile. "We've spoken every now and again. He's a nice kid. Although," Her face grew in trepidation. "He's gotten into trouble a few times before with the cooks, usually about his tendency to fall asleep during his shifts. I've also seen him wearing these sort of...weird gadget things once in awhile. I don't really know why."

"Yeah, well, he's cost me 2000 munny. So much for 'nice boy'." Kairi shook her head. Looking at herself in the mirror, she grimaced. "Ugh, I can't go walking around like this!"

"Don't worry. I'll take you home and you can get cleaned up there. Wait here, I'll go look for a jacket."

* * *

><p>"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"<p>

Sora quailed under Tiana's wrathful gaze. "Nothing! I was just-I-I was-...It was an accident!"

"How exactly does _this_ kind of accident happen?" Tiana shouted. She had come out of the kitchen after several minutes of Sora not showing up to pick up her meals, and was promptly met with the sights of the table, the floor, and the waiter all splattered with hot chocolate. She quickly told Tifa and Max to clean up the mess, dragged Sora into the kitchen with her, and launched into one of her rants. "Let me guess, you were playing around with your friends again, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't!" Sora denied. "Not exactly. I was just-we thought it'd liven things up if I put on Hiro's jet boots and-"

"You **what?!" **

"We deactivated the jets," he rushed to explain as Tiana's eyes grew wider. "I was just skating around while taking orders and stuff. The customers liked it. Some of them took pictures of me. No one was hu-..."

He trailed off, wincing when he remembered someone _had _gotten hurt. Looking up from her pastry board, Aqua frowned at him.

"Sora," said Aqua slowly, sternly. "Did anyone out there get hurt?"

He swallowed. "Uh..."

Tiana's eyes flashed. "What. Did you. Do."

"It was an accident!" He cried out desperately, and Aqua groaned. Tiana froze. "I lost my balance and-I swear I didn't mean to! I crashed into her, and we both fell to the floor. But she wasn't hurt too bad. Her outfit might have been sorta destroyed, but otherwise she seemed fine."

"Sora-"

"Tiana, there are people still out there." Aqua redirected her stern tone to Tiana, whose voice was growing louder. "Try to calm down."

Tiana growled. "Sora, do you know what people look for when they eat in a restaurant?"

"...Good food?" Sora answered meekly.

Tiana glared at him. "Good food _and _good service. When you go to a restaurant, you want to feel appreciated, like your presence there matters to the workers. You expect to be treated with kindness and respect. If you went someplace, and some waiter just pushes you to the floor, would you go back there?"

It took a few moments for Sora to find his voice amidst the guilt he felt. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again."

A slight pause, then Tiana sighed heavily and put a hand on her head. "Who was it?" Aqua asked.

"I dunno. She didn't give me her name." Sora eyed Aqua's station as if considering something, but then blushed and diverted his eyes back to Tiana, whose face was drained of most of her anger.

Sora straightened up his back. "I'm sorry, Tiana," he repeated, firmly and sincerely.

Tiana merely shook her head. "What's done is done. Did you apologize to the customer?"

"Of course." said Sora.

She jerked her head as a way to gesture to Aqua. "Give them something on the house and apologize to them again. Try to make sure there aren't any hard feelings so she doesn't go badmouthing the cafe."

"Nah, she wouldn't do that." Sora accepted a piece of cake from Aqua. She looked at him skeptically.

"How do you know that? Didn't you say you didn't know her?"

"Yeah, but..." Trailing off, Sora was silent for several seconds until he laughed it off. He turned and made his way to the kitchen door. "Just a feeling. She doesn't seem like that type of person."

Examining the piece of cake, it turned out to be a spongey, wet slice of cake with vanilla frosting. Sora's stomach yearned for it, his tongue practically rising to devour the entire thing. He swallowed and continued out, but was interrupted when a woman pushed through the transparent door to the kitchen.

He blinked, then smiled with surprised recognition. "Hey, Elsa!"

Elsa returned his smile. "Hey, Sora. How are you?" Elsa Frederiksen was one of the cafe's frequenters, though it'd been a couple of months since her last visit. She was a woman with a routine-she came in once a week to sit down and enjoy one of Cass's delectable, chocolately treats. Sora knew pretty much everyone who came to the cafe, but out of all of them he knew Elsa the least. They weren't on bad terms, per say. Out of all the waiters, he was one of two she was most comfortable with and who could get her to smile (at least a little). It was just she treated all her visits as if they were simply items on a list she needed to cross off.

"I'm fine. Guess what? I'm a high school graduate." He moved to make a pose, but stopped when he remembered his hands were occupied. Instead he merely smiled widely with self-satisfaction.

"Congrats." Elsa's smile turned sly, without losing any of its usual shyness. "I, um...I heard you got into some trouble with one of your guests. I hope you're planning to make it up to her. That was quite an expensive outfit you ruined."

"Ehehe...huh..." Sora let out a guilty laugh and prepared to slide past Elsa out the door when the full meaning of her words hit him. "Wait, you know her?"

"She and my sister went to the same boarding school. They were good friends, so my sister thought it'd be nice if we spent some time together."

Sora nodded almost absentmindedly. "Is she...is she mad at me?"

Elsa frowned. "She's certainly not happy, at least about the fact she'll have to go home with her clothes destroyed. Which reminds me," she turned to Aqua and Tiana. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if maybe I could borrow an apron or something. To cover up the stains."

"Yeah, sure." Tiptoeing to reach the cabinets hanging above her, Aqua pulled out a plain white apron and handed it over to the blonde. "Can you let her know how sorry we are about this?"

"Of course."

"Hey, uh," Sora piped up, fidgeting. "Do you think maybe I could come with you? I wanna apologize to her again."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that." Elsa said. "Okay, come on."

She lead him out the kitchen, but instead of heading to the dining room as he thought, she took him to the girls bathroom. "Whoah, whoah, whoah," Sora halted in his tracks. "I'll, uh, I'll just stay out here."

Elsa consented and continued inside. Sora watched her go nervously, letting out a heavy sigh as soon as she disappeared inside. He alternated between which hands he held the slice of cake until he grabbed the fork stuck into the treat and played around with the frosting. To the casual observer he'd appear to be nothing more than a random teenage boy waiting in line for the girls' bathroom, but the truth was he was a nervous wreck.

The bathroom door creaked open, a head poking out. Sora felt his nerves spike as his eyes met purple ones which gazed at him almost suspiciously. "H-hey," he smiled, the hand not holding the slice of cake darting up to the back of his head, running its fingers through the strands of his spiky brown hair.

Beat.

The girl came out, clad in the white apron Aqua had given Elsa. It was tied tightly around her torso so it covered up all the stains from earlier, and she smoothed out the wrinkles at the hem before fixing Sora with a casual gaze. She smiled faintly. "You come to ruin my apron now, too?"

"N-no, of course not." Sora fidgeted. "I-I got this for you. As an apology."

He held the slice of cake out, practically right under her nose. She took a surprised half step back and glanced up at him.

"You already apologized, you know."

"Yeah, but...you...didn't exactly say whether or not you forgave me or not." Sora set his gaze on her apron. "I'm sorry about your clothes. I hope they weren't too expensive..."

"It's fine." The girl shrugged. "Nothing a little laundry can't fix, after all."

Sora doubted that. He wasn't an expert in fashion, but he had a feeling it would be near impossible to get rid of those blotches. He wasn't going to mention that, however, if she didn't already know. No need to anger her any further.

"I could pitch in some munny for the laundry, if you want." He found himself saying instead. He felt his cheeks burn, but his mouth was on auto pilot and continued to run. "You shouldn't have to pay for something I messed up."

The girl blinked. Brushing a few strands of auburn hair behind her ear, another smile made its way onto her face, this one warmer than the previous one. "That's sweet, but it's really not necessary...but I'll take the cake."

Sora grinned. "It's all yours. Ah, wait!"

He called out to her retreating figure. She curved around to give him an inquisitive look-see. "I...never got your name." He explained. He hoped he didn't sound as idiotic to her as he did to him.

"I'm Kairi." She said. "And you're Sora, right? It was nice to meet you."

"You too. See you around." They'd said this earlier, but it felt more authentic this time from her end, at least it did for Sora. Probably because this time she gave her name as well, and he hadn't just accidentally molested her.

(He wondered whether he should apologize for that too, then decided to leave it alone. He could only take so much embarrassment.)

They parted ways, with Sora first going to the kitchen to tell Tiana he gave Kairi the cake and then returning to Roxas and Ven.

"So how bad was it?" Roxas asked.

"What?" Still reeling from his second encounter with Kairi, Sora's face scrunched up. What was Roxas talking about it? Nothing about it had been bad. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know, with Tiana. She must have been uber-pissed, right?"

"O-oh, Tiana. Yeah, that didn't go so well." Sora winced as he remembered the livid rage swirling inside Tiana's eyes.

Ven's head gave a little twitch. "What did you think he was talking about?"

"Nothing, nothing." Sora dodged Ven's question. "So, are you guys gonna order something, or am I gonna have to get Tifa to kick you out?"

* * *

><p>"That was quite the adventure, wasn't it?" Elsa and Kairi slid into their car seats. Elsa adjusted the back view mirror and frowned guiltily at the redhead. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here."<p>

Kairi shook her head, smiling. "I had fun. I wouldn't even mind coming back again sometime."

"Really?" Elsa sounded surprised. "I'd have thought you'd never want to set foot in that place again."

"That's pushing it." Kairi peered down at the apron wrapped around her chest and stomach, and she smiled sheepishly. "I think I'll be a little more careful about what I order next time, though."

She examined the apron. "Will I have to return this?"

The blonde nodded. "Don't worry, I can return it later."

As Elsa's car rolled on through the street, Kairi protested, "I couldn't ask you to do that. I'm the one who needed it, I'll return it."

"Are you sure? It's no problem."

Kairi smiled. "It's fine. And anyway, It'll give me something to do after tomorrow's lessons."

"Give you something to do...?" Elsa frowned. Keeping her eyes on the road, she gently asked, "Don't you have anyone to hang out with?"

Kairi flushed. Her stomach churned, and she answered, "My grandma's super busy, so we don't get to do a lot of stuff together."

"What about your friends?"

The question hit her heart like a small bullet. She squirmed in her seat, she played around with fingers, and she tried to give a cheery laugh. "I'm not so good with people. I'll have to work on that if...if I'm ever gonna hit the stage. Performers never go it alone."

Elsa kept her eyes up front, but she inclined her head toward Kairi. "Yeah." She murmured. "I guess they don't."

The drive back to Kairi's house was silent. As Elsa parked the car, her phone dinged. Scanning the screen, her gaze flickered up at Kairi, before she slid her phone back in her pocket. "Come on," she said, and got out of her car. "I'll help you clean up."

* * *

><p><em>A MONTH?! What have I done?! <em>

_Okay, I'll be honest. Most of it was laziness, but the last couple of days it was because I had a bad case of eye strain (and I still do, blugh), but it got better, so here we are! It was fun writing this, although not a lot happened in this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to end. Sora and Kairi have finally met! Sora's totally on crush mode, which is making him a little nervous. I know he doesn't act that way about Kairi in the games, but I figure that's because in canon, he's known Kairi for more than a decade, since they were kids. Before anything, she's his friend, and so he acts comfortable with her. Here, though, he's just met her, so instead of seeing a lifelong friend in **addition **__to a girl he thinks is pretty, he just sees a pretty girl, and acts accordingly._

_I don't think it's a spoiler to say Kairi's not on crush mode yet, but she will be soon. Like, within the next two chapters. An apology, btw, for the time it's taking for the conflict to start. Things will definitely start to fester next chapter, so the wait won't be too long (hopefully by next Friday). _

_Finally, and most importantly, THANKS to everyone who's following this story, favorited it, and a special Kairikh3, KingPiece11, and SoraxKairi7 for their wonderful reviews. For some reason, the number of reviews a story gets is way more important than the number of favorites, which doesn't make much sense, but hey. _


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